Chair base



g- 8, 1939- H. w. SCHELDRICK 2,168,810

CHAIR BASE Filed Jan. 12, 19 38 Patented Aug. 8, 1939 UNITED STATESPATENT OFFICE CHAIR BASE Application January 12, 1938, Serial No.184,633

2 Claims.

This invention relates to chair bases of the type commonly employed forofiice chairs wherein the base is provided with a hub for supporting thechair spindle and legs radiating from 5 the hub. Heretofore,particularly where a metal hub and wood legs have been employed, muchdifficulty has been experienced from a development of lost motionbetween the spindle-carrying sleeve or hub and the legs, and this inspite of the use of wood filler blocks between adjacent legs at the hub.The chief object of this invention is to prevent this diiiiculty, and ingeneral the invention relates to a method of securing the metal hubparts together in such a manner that this lost motion is prevented.

For a more complete understanding of this invention, reference may behad to the accompanying drawing, in which Figure l is a perspective viewof the metal portion of a chair hub made in accordance with thisinvention.

Figures 2 and 3 are horizontal sections through the chair hub on sectionlines 2-2 and 3-3, respectively, but showing portions of the legs andfiller blocks in position.

Figure 4 is a vertical section through the metal portion of the hub online 44 of Figure 2.

Referring to the drawing, at I is indicated a tubular member forreceiving the spindle (not shown) of the chair iron in the usual manner.This tube I has secured thereto near its upper end a plate 2 which isshown as provided with a central bore portion 3 about which the metal isdished upwardly, this dished portion being held between an annular rib 4projecting outwardly from the tube I and a flanged ring member 5 securedin position by the outwardly flared upper end 6 of the tube I. Arrangadaround the axis of the tube I are a series of leg-receiving sockets It,each socket being formed channelshaped in cross section with the sidesof the channel inclined toward each other as at II, thus forming anoutwardly tapered opening to receive the matingly tapered end portion I2of the chair leg [3. Not only is each socket I tapered outwardly, but itis also tapered upwardly, its narrower end being positioned at its topso that the weight of the chair and of the occupant tends to tighten thelegs in the sockets. The upper edges of the side walls II are shown asextended as at I4 through openings I in the plate or disk 2, theseextensions being riveted over as at It on the top of the plate 2 so asto secure the upper ends of the sockets firmly in position. The lowerends of the socket members are provided with extensions 29 from theircentral web portions 2| and theseextensions are clamped in positionagainst the outer face of the tube I as by means of a clamping collar 25which is retained on the lower end portion of the tube I by spinning orotherwise forming an outwardly directed flange 26 thereon. The parts areso disposed, however, that when the ring 25 is in position, not only arethe extensions 2B firmly clamped to the outer face of the tube I, butthe adjacent apices 21 between the webs 2| and the sides II of thesockets are each forced into tight engagement with the adjacent lowerapex of the neighboring socket. Between the legs I3 carried by thesocket members may be placed the filler blocks such, for example, asthose shown at 30 in Figures 2 and 3. It has been found in practice thatfiller blocks alone do not prevent the working loose of the leg membersdue to shrinkage of the wood parts or otherwise, but by forcing thelower ends of the socket members into tight engagement with each otherat their lower ends, it has been found that this liability of the legmembers to develop play with relation to the hub member is effectivelyprevented so long as the leg members tightly engage in the socketmembers, even without the use of the filler blocks 3% which may,however, be employed in order to improve the appearance of the chairbase and to cover the metallic portions thereof, except at the top andlower face of the chair base. A metal cover plate screwed to the lowerfaces of the legs and bridging the filler blocks such as is commonlyemployed but which is not shown herein, may be used if desired, as anadditional means of securment of the parts together. By the constructionheretofore described, the socket members are firmly held in position attheir upper ends by the riveting over of the extensions It in the topplate 2 and at their lower edge by the forcing of adjacent socketmembers against each other and against the outer face of the tube Iunder stress.

From the foregoing description of one embodiment of this invention, itshould be evident to those skilled in the art that various other changesand modifications might be made without departing from the spirit orscope of this invention as defined by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A chair base comprising a tubular member, a plurality of channelshaped leg-receiving sockets arranged with their webs toward said memberand surrounding the same, and means for holding adjacent end portions ofsaid sockets forced against each other under stress and secured to saidtubular member.

2. A chair base comprising a central tubular member, a plate secured tothe upper portion of said member, a plurality of channel shapedlegreceiving sockets arranged about said tubular member and secured attheir upper ends to said plate, said sockets having extensions at theirlow er ends, and a ring surrounding and clamping said extensions to saidtubular member with the lower end of each socket forcibly pressedagainst the next adjacent sockets.

HENRY W. SHELDRICK.

